OBOF SS & MORE PART 33

WELCOME TO OPINIONS  BASED  ON FACTS (OBOF)

Name	Published
OVERVIEW	Dec. 28, 2010
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 1	Dec. 30, 2010
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 2	Jan. 10, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 3	Jan. 17, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 4	Jan. 24, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 5	Jan. 31, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6	Feb. 07, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 7	Feb. 14, 2011
SPECIAL ISSUE	Feb. 18, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 8	Feb. 21, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 9	Mar. 01, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 10	Mar. 07, 2011
SS & MORE PART 1	Mar. 14, 2011
SS & MORE PART 1A	Mar. 21, 2011
SS & MORE PART 2	Mar. 25, 2011
SS & MORE PART 3	Mar. 29, 2011
SS & MORE PART 4	Apr. 04, 2011
SS & MORE PART 5	Apr. 11, 2011
SS & MORE PART 6	Apr. 18, 2011
SS & MORE PART 7	Apr. 25, 2011
SS & MORE PART 7A	Apr. 29, 2011
SS & MORE PART 8	May 02, 2011
SS & MORE PART 9	May 09, 2011
SS & MORE PART 10	May 16, 2011
SS & MORE PART 11	May 24, 2011
SS & MORE PART 12	Jun. 06, 2011
SS & MORE PART 13	Jun. 20, 2011
SS & MORE PART 14	July  05, 2011
SS & MORE PART 14A	July  18, 2011
SS & MORE PART 15	July  19, 2011
SS & MORE PART 16	Aug. 03, 2011
SS & MORE PART 17	Aug. 15, 2011
SS & MORE PART 18	Aug. 29, 2011
SS & MORE PART 19	Sept. 12, 2011
SS & MORE PART 20	Sept. 26, 2011
SS & MORE PART 21	Oct.   10, 2011
SS & MORE PART 22	Oct.   24, 2011
SS & MORE PART 22 EXTRA	Nov.  04, 2011
SS & MORE PART 23	Nov.  07, 2011
SS & MORE PART 24	Nov.  21, 2011
SS & MORE PART 25	Dec.  05, 2011
SS & MORE PART 26	Dec.  19, 2011
SS & MORE PART 27	JAN.  03, 2012
SS & MORE PART 27A	JAN.  05, 2012
SS & MORE PART 28	JAN.  17, 2012
SS & MORE PART 29	JAN.  31, 2012
SS & MORE PART 30	Feb.  14, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL1	Feb.  21, 2012
SS & MORE PART 30 EXTRA	Feb.  23, 2012
SS & MORE PART 31	Feb.  28, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL2 - 59	Mar.  06, 2012
SS & MORE PART 31 EXTRA	Mar.  07, 2012
SS & MORE PART 32	Mar.  13, 2012
SS & MORE PART 32 EXTRA	Mar.  24, 2012
SS & MORE PART 33	Apr.  10, 2012

IN  THIS  ISSUE

1.  Huge mistake.

2.  Good news  -  bad news.

3.  A true free offer.

4.  "THE FAB GROUP."

5.  The Buffett Rule.

6.  The Obama Truth Team.

7.  Random killings.

8.  Rep. Paul Ryan's 2013 budget.

9.  The fable of the century.

10. Parting thought.

~~~

"VOTE,  AN  EDUCATED  VOTE"

What is an educated vote?  It is one that has been made with as much knowledge, based on facts, not misinformation, that an individual can obtain.

~~~

HUGE  MISTAKE

In my last posting, I said that it was to be my last posting and gave a reason for stopping.  I said, that all the bad news was just getting to me and when I couldn't do anything about the problems of our Country, I just would get too upset reading all about all these problems.

Well, I found myself still reading the same material that I was reading when I was posting.  I guess it was the result of curiosity and habit.  So, if I am doing that, I just as well continue with my blog. 

After what I said in my last posting, I don't know if there will still be any of you out there, but I am going to go ahead and maybe it can build up again. 

Also, I am going to make it easier, for you, to write comments.  I think the way it is set up now, may be stopping some of you, from writing your thoughts back to me.

When you write a comment, you must select a profile from those displayed.  If you do not want to sign in, you can use "anonymous."

SO, NOW  I'LL START  TO CORRECT  MY HUGE  MISTAKE

There is so much material to choose from and I try to pick the information that I believe will be important to you and that will affect all our lives.  Unfortunately, about 90 percent plus is about bad news.  The good news is hard to find and it is just getting harder and harder.  It is a sad commentary about our country and world.  However, closing our eyes and minds to the true situation does nothing to try to do whatever we can to improve our world.

Fortunately, I can start with some GOOD news.

A truly free offer, with no shoe to drop on you.

Allen W. Smith Ph.D., is a Emeritus Economics Professor of Eastern Illinois University.  For more than a decade, he has been trying to educate the public regarding the true handling of the Social Security FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Account).  He has written seven books, three of which are on this subject. 

He has uncovered the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the American taxpayer.  The GOOD news is that he has now made one of his books, "The Looting of Social Security," available absolutely FREE.  To me, when some person, or some company, offers me something free, I immediately, wonder when they will drop the shoe on me.  Folks, in this case there is no shoe to drop. 

So, if that is the case, why is he making the book free?  The answer is, that it is another step in his long dedicated effort to expose a $2.6 trillion Government scam.  All you need to do is click on this link and go from there. http://thebiglie.net/

"THE FAB GROUP"

MORE  NEWS  -  LESS  READING

 THE  BUFFETT  RULE

Floyd

Congress is getting ready for a vote on the Buffett Rule soon. You'll be hearing a lot about this bill from both sides of the aisle.

So let's cut straight to the heart of it -- this is about fairness.

Billionaire Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his personal secretary. It doesn't make sense, and he's the first to say it.

To help more Americans understand why this bill is a good deal for us all, we've launched a special website where you can get all the tools you need to spread the word and shape the debate. You'll find infographics, videos, and information about which important programs the Buffett Rule would pay for.

Have a look around.

Last fall, you signed up to support the Buffett Rule, so I know you're on board with President Obama and I won't bore you with the details.

It's simple, anyway. The Buffett Rule is based on the premise that also happens to be a central principle of this campaign: Everyone in America should pay their fair share and play by the same rules.

But Mitt Romney and the GOP actually plan to reward the wealthiest Americans with even more tax breaks, protect their loopholes and special deals, and shift responsibility for reducing the deficit onto the backs of seniors and middle-class families.

That's not fair or reasonable.

Let's make sure others know about it. Check out this site and send it to anyone you think should see it -- and let's get this done:

http://my.barackobama.com/Buffett-Rule-Site

Thanks for your support,

James

James Kvaal
National Policy Director
Obama for America

P.S. -- The Buffett Rule shows what's at stake in this election. We need to keep growing this campaign from the ground up to reach as many voters as we can. If you can, please make a donation to support the President today.

EZRA KLEIN'S  WONKBOOK

On the politics of the budget, House Republicans are from Mars and Senate Democrats from Venus.

Both sides face the same problem: Nothing they produce has any chance of passing. But to House Republicans, that's been a reason to go big on the annual budget resolution. Unshackled from the need to write legislation the Senate can pass and the president will sign, House Republicans have used their budgets to detail a dramatic, sweeping vision for how they would remake the federal government. For Senate Democrats, it's been just the opposite: Since nothing they produce will make it through the House, they've mostly ignored the annual budget resolution and saved their political capital for the inevitable end-of-year dealmaking.

Democrats' campaign for the Buffett Rule kicked into high gear.

"Democrats are going to make sure you hear a lot about the 'Buffett Rule' this week. The Obama campaign and key Hill Democrats launched a weeklong offensive Monday to drum up support for the Buffett Rule, which would ensure taxpayers earning more than $1 million pay at least 30 percent of their incoming in taxes...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has teed up a procedural vote on the Buffett Rule - which would ensure taxpayers earning in excess of $1 million are paying an effective 30 percent tax rate - for April 16, the first day back in Washington for Congress after a two-week recess, and the day before the annual tax deadline. It’s sure to go nowhere, but Senate leaders have vowed to bring up the measure repeatedly before November to ensure the issue stays front and center...Implementing the Buffett Rule would raise about $46.7 billion over a decade, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation."

Seung Min Kim in Politico.

~~~

 RANDOM  KILLINGS  IN  TULSA,  OK.

& LOS ANGLES,  CAL.

By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com

Two Oklahoma men were ordered held on more than $9 million bail Monday following a shooting rampage that claimed three lives, injured two, and shook Tulsa's black community.

Alvin Watts, 32, and Jake England, 19, appeared before Judge Monday. They wore orange jumpsuits and said nothing as the judge set bail in a session that lasted less than two minutes.

The two men are held on suspicion of three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a firearm with intent to kill, NBC News reported, in a shooting spree that targeted people in predominantly black neighborhood.

The judge set an April 16 court date for the formal arraignment.

In Tulsa, a community steps up after heinous shootings

According to TulsaWorld.com, police found the two men together on Sunday at a home not far from where the shootings occurred early Friday. Anonymous tips had indicated to police that England was the shooter, the TulsaWorld.com reported.

England's father Carl was shot and killed two years ago by an African-American man during a scuffle, and England, it appeared from a posting Thursday on his Facebook wall, was deeply disturbed by it.

“Today is two years that my dad has been gone shot by a f------ n----- it's hard not to go off between that and sheran I'm gone in the head,” he wrote, according to the Tulsa World.

Sheran was Sheran Hart Wilde, England’s fiancée, who killed herself in January.

Those killed in the alleged shooting spree were identified as Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31. All are black, but police aren't saying whether they believe the killings were racially motivated.

 Dad dies after shielding son, 8, from barrage of bullets

By Samantha Tata, NBC Los Angeles

Police are asking the public to help identify suspects involved in an Inglewood shooting that left a 28-year-old father dead after he shielded his 8-year-old son from the barrage of bullets.

Fredrick Martin and his son, Tre, were in front of their garage Tuesday night when gunfire broke out, police said.

When he heard the shots, the man pushed his son to the ground and covered him with his body.  Martin suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen and upper torso and later died at the hospital.

'Ultimate sacrifice'

"The investigation is not going well," Lt. James Madia with Inglewood police said, adding that detectives are working on a few conflicting descriptions of the possible suspects and their +cars

Martin’s son, who shared a home with his father, mother ,and grandmother, suffered only a minor graze wound Madia said.

Martin's wife Amanda is five months pregnant, according to a family friend.

Comments

Motz in KC

There is nothing more courageous than a dad putting himself in the line of fire to protect his son. So many of us complain about everyday little things. Just look at what this guy did... There is a special place in Heaven for him.

sighber

It disgusts me that people in certain areas of the country will stonewall the police when they try to investigate crimes like this. When people band together to thwart authorities they support the violence they end up living with. This is such a tragic story and I don't know whether the mindset I described is prevalent in the area but it seems odd that the police are having no luck obtaining leads. The article at least alludes to such a mindset in this area. Don't trust the cops but trust thugs with guns instead? Not smart!

As to violence in our nation, I suspect its no worse now than in times gone by but I do wonder what effect ten years of waging war has on us all. We spend our days celebrating and honoring deeds that outside a war would be criminal. Could it be that after a while the difference between killing in a war zone and killing in a neighborhood becomes less clear, or that killing just becomes killing?  Has all the bloodshed caused a degradation of the value of life in general in too many minds?

Just My 2 Coppers

It disgusts me that people in certain areas of the country will stonewall the police when they try to investigate crimes like this. When people band together to thwart authorities they support the violence they end up living with.

They do so out of fear. The laws of this country are sometimes "flexible" in ways they should not be.  If the word gets out that it was you... or a member of your family... who id'd a shooter and he doesn't spend much time in jail, your family could be next. Even if the law works... the shooter has friends and family as well - who might seek revenge.  Rather than be "disgusted" by these people, you'd do better to be understanding about the choices they are left with.

I do agree with your final paragraph, however. I remember when every murder in my state was news.  Now, not even every murder in my town is news.

~~~

REP. PAUL RYAN'S (R-WIS.) BUDGET

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013

The following is from the Ex. Dir. of the DNC (Democratic National Committee).  You can see that this is almost a carbon copy of what they had proposed for fiscal year 2012, which didn't fly and this one won't either.  The following really lays out what the bill does and doesn't do.

Yesterday (April 4, 2012) our President had a few choice words for the radical Republican budget championed by Rep. Paul Ryan.  He called it "so far to the right it makes the Contract with America look like the New Deal."

From Medicare to Social Security, health care to education, the GOP is ready to cut to the bone some of our most basic government services -- while not asking for a dime more from the wealthiest Americans.

President Obama called it what it is: "A Trojan horse, disguised as deficit reduction plans, it is really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country."

This isn't just Paul Ryan's budget -- it's also Mitt Romney's platform.

Let's fight it. Add your name alongside mine to reject the Ryan budget.

Here's just a few of the things that would happen to Americans with the budget the GOP is backing.

Medicare?  They'd throw it out the window, and give seniors a voucher that would amount to the second-cheapest health care plan in their community. Education?  This plan would lay off thousands of teachers nationwide, and drastically cut financial aid -- actually making college more expensive than it currently is. Investments in clean energy?  Cut by a fifth.

In the President's words: "Gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that's built to last -- education and training, research and development -- it's a prescription for decline."

Perhaps even more telling are the things they're fighting to protect: four billion annually in taxpayer-funded subsidies for giant oil companies that don't need it; increases in defense spending completely beyond what the Pentagon even asked for; and even more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires.

So let's break it down.  This budget isn't for the 98% of Americans making under $250,000 a year.

Who is it for?  It's laden with special interest kickbacks and protections to keep the status quo going for those on top.

Yesterday, the President said he's going to fight against this budget until the other side starts listening. It's our job to back him up.

Send a strong message to Ryan and the Republicans pushing this budget.  Reject it outright today:

http://my.democrats.org/Reject-the-Ryan-budget

Thanks,

Patrick

Patrick Gaspard
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee

P.S. -- You can even leave a message for Rep. Ryan when you add your name. Some of them will be featured on our blog and social media.

~~~

THE  FABLE  OF  THE  CENTURY

Robert Reich  Op-Ed

Published April 6, 2012.

Imagine a country in which the very richest people get all the economic gains. They eventually accumulate so much of the nation’s total income and wealth that the middle class no longer has the purchasing power to keep the economy going full speed. Most of the middle class’s wages keep falling and their major asset – their home – keeps shrinking in value.

Imagine that the richest people in this country use some of their vast wealth to routinely bribe politicians. They get the politicians to cut their taxes so low there’s no money to finance important public investments that the middle class depends on – such as schools and roads, or safety nets such as health care for the elderly and poor.

Imagine further that among the richest of these rich are financiers. These financiers have so much power over the rest of the economy they get average taxpayers to bail them out when their bets in the casino called the stock market go bad. They have so much power they even shred regulations intended to limit their power.

These financiers have so much power they force businesses to lay off millions of workers and to reduce the wages and benefits of millions of others, in order to maximize profits and raise share prices – all of which make the financiers even richer, because they own so many of shares of stock and run the casino.

Now, imagine that among the richest of these financiers are people called private-equity managers who buy up companies in order to squeeze even more money out of them by loading them up with debt and firing even more of their employees, and then selling the companies for a fat profit.

Although these private-equity managers don’t even risk their own money – they round up investors to buy the target companies – they nonetheless pocket 20 percent of those fat profits.

And because of a loophole in the tax laws, which they created with their political bribes, these private equity managers are allowed to treat their whopping earnings as capital gains, taxed at only 15 percent – even though they themselves made no investment and didn’t risk a dime.

Finally, imagine there is a presidential election. One party, called the Republican Party, nominates as its candidate a private-equity manager who has raked in more than $20 million a year and paid only 13.9 percent in taxes – a lower tax rate than many in the middle class.

Yes, I know it sounds far-fetched. But bear with me because the fable gets even wilder. Imagine this candidate and his party come up with a plan to cut the taxes of the rich even more – so millionaires save another $150,000 a year. And their plan cuts everything else the middle class and the poor depend on – Medicare, Medicaid, education, job-training, food stamps, Pell grants, child nutrition, even law enforcement.

What happens next?

There are two endings to this fable. You have to decide which it’s to be.

In one ending the private-equity manager candidate gets all his friends and everyone in the Wall Street casino and everyone in every executive suite of big corporations to contribute the largest wad of campaign money ever assembled – beyond your imagination.

The candidate uses the money to run continuous advertisements telling the same big lies over and over, such as “don’t tax the wealthy because they create the jobs” and “don’t tax corporations or they’ll go abroad” and “government is your enemy” and “the other party wants to turn America into a socialist state.”

And because big lies told repeatedly start sounding like the truth, the citizens of the country begin to believe them, and they elect the private equity manager president. Then he and his friends turn the country into a plutocracy (which it was starting to become anyway).

But there’s another ending. In this one, the candidacy of the private equity manager (and all the money he and his friends use to try to sell their lies) has the opposite effect. It awakens the citizens of the country to what is happening to their economy and their democracy. It ignites a movement among the citizens to take it all back.

The citizens repudiate the private equity manager and everything he stands for, and the party that nominated him. And they begin to recreate an economy that works for everyone and a democracy that’s responsive to everyone.

Just a fable, of course. But the ending is up to you.

~~~

PARTING  THOUGHT

Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.

Benjamin Disraeli

~~~

If the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again on April 17th with "Contemplating Life" and by noon on Tuesday April 24th with an OBOF posting. 

God Bless you all,

&

God Bless the United States of America.

Floyd